Organisations continue to get hit hard by cyber attacks

A quarter of global organisations were hit by seven or more cyber attacks in the last year.

Trend Micro published survey findings revealing 23% of global organisations suffered seven or more attacks infiltrating their networks or systems over the past 12 months.

The vast majority (83%) of surveyed organisations expect that such attacks are "somewhat" to "very" likely to be successful in the coming 12 months.

Responding organisations claimed their top cyber threat risks globally are: phishing and social engineering, clickjacking, ransomware, fileless attacks, botnets, and man-in-the-middle attacks.

Across the globe, organisations' key concerns are: the loss of customer data, access to IP and financial information, customer churn, stolen or damaged equipment.

There were differences between certain countries as well.

In the US respondents were unique in listing the cost of outside consultants as a top negative consequence of attack, while in APAC damage to critical infrastructure concerned organisations.

The top global security risks within IT infrastructure were highlighted as: organisational misalignment and complexity, negligent insiders, cloud computing infrastructure and providers, shortage of qualified personnel, and malicious insiders

The insights are published in the latest version of Trend Micro's Cyber Risk Index (CRI) calculated by the Ponemon Institute by measuring the gap between organisations' current security posture and their likelihood of being attacked.

Trend Micro director of global threat communications Jon Clay says, "The CRI is fast becoming an indispensable resource for CISOs looking to assess their readiness to respond to cyber attacks.

"This year we've added data from Europe and APAC to provide truly global insight. It will help organisations across the world find better ways to cut through complexity, mitigate insider threats and skills shortages, and enhance cloud security to minimise cyber risk and drive post-pandemic success."

The CRI is based on a numerical scale of -10 to 10, with -10 representing the highest level of risk.

The current global index stands at -0.41, representing "elevated" risk, although risk is highest in the US (-1.07) due to a perceived lack of cyber preparedness versus other regions.

Ponemon Institute CEO Dr. Larry Ponemon says, "Trend Micro's CRI is a useful tool for companies to better understand their cyber risk.

"Expanding this to be a global resource in 2020 opens the door for more organisations to leverage this useful information. Businesses of all sizes and industries across the globe can use the CRI to improve their protection strategy and better prepare their cybersecurity posture in the year to come."

This is the third CRI study in the US and shows a significant increase in cyber risk in 2020. The complete report shows this change over time, includes the greatest security challenges for businesses around the world, and tips to minimise security risks.